Coiled cable dispenser

ABSTRACT

A coiled cable dispenser for use by the building trade in constructing buildings. The coiled cable usually packaged in 250 foot rolls is centrally located on a rotatable table. A spindle mounting assembly pivotally supports the table at one end and contains a pair of spaced apart U shaped members attached to each other by a single arm at the other end. The U shaped members are adapted to fit over opposite sides of a conventional two by four stud member which are usually located 16 inches on center. The cable is dispensed from the periphery of the coil through a cable guide assembly that is pivotally attached to the spindle mounting assembly below said rotating table. The table is frictionally restrained thereby allowing the construction worker to pull a selected amount of cable from the rotating table.

Bourhenne 51 Sept. 24, 1974 COILED CABLE DISPENSER Francis KurtBourhenne, 1308 1/2 Anaheim St., Harbor City, Calif. 90710 Filed: Feb.5, 1973 Appl. No.: 329,659

Inventor:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1927 Moser...- 248/246 X1,908,073 5/1933 Spoor et a1. 3,275,263 9/1966 Parkinson 242/129 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 535,000 10/1955 Italy ..248/246 1,264,653 5/1961France ..248/246 Primary Examiner-Leonard D. Christian Attorney, Agent,or FirmSinger & Singer [5 7 ABSTRACT A coiled cable dispenser for use bythe building trade in constructing buildings. The coiled cable usuallypackaged in 250 foot rolls is centrally located on a rotatable table. Aspindle mounting assembly pivotally supports the table at one end andcontains a pair of spaced apart U shaped members attached to each otherby a single arm at the other end. The U shaped members are adapted tofit over opposite sides of a conyentional two by four stud member whichare usually located 16 inches on center. The cable is dispensed from theperiphery of the coil through a cable guide assembly that is pivotallyattached to the spindle mounting assembly below said rotating table. Thetable is frictionally restrained thereby allowing the constructionworker to pull a selected amount of cable from the rotating table.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures COILED CABLE DISPENSER This inventionrelates to a coiled cable dispenser for use by the building professionin wiring the building under construction and more particularly to areel for dispensing a non-metallic sheet cable of the type known underthe trade name ROMEX.

Wiring cable of the type used in conventional building construction isusually sold in coiled lengths of 250 feet that are individuallypackaged in corrugated cardboard containers. Larger diameter wirescapable of carrying a higher current would of necessity be contained ina larger carton whereas smaller diameter wires having the same 250 footlength would be contained in a smaller sized carton.

The usual practice in the building profession is to locate the coiledcardboard container containing the 250 foot length of wire at thebuilding site for the availability of the wiring electrician. Thecardboard container is usually sliced open and one end of the coiledwire is made available for the electrician in pulling the wire throughthe studs from junction box to receptacle.

The wire is usually left within the container as a means of restrainingthe coiled wire when not in use. Unfortunately when the electricianpulls the wire from the cardboard container the wire being dispensedtends to loop upon itself causing kinks and bends due to the looping ofthe wire as the wire is uncoiled. This looping of the wire requiresconstant attention having the tendency to slow the work of theelectrician or at best requires an electrician and a helper tocontinually unwind the dispensed wire so that the wire may pass freelythrough the studs under the urging of the electrician.

This invention describes a coiled wire dispenser that freely dispensesthe coiled wire from the periphery of the coil under the urging of theelectrician and without the aforementioned kinks and loops. Thedispenser is adapted to be movably mounted on a conventional 2 X 4 studthereby insuring that the coiled wire will be located as close to thework as possible thereby reducing effort and saving time of theinstallation.

The coiled cable dispensercontains a rotatable table adapted to accept acomplete 250 foot reel of coiled wire. The coiled wire is firstcompletely removed from the cardboard shipping container and placed uponthe rotating table. The table is rotatably mounted upon a spindlemounting assembly that is fixedly attached to an arm connecting a pairof spaced apart U shaped members. The U shaped members are each adaptedto fit over opposite sides of a 2 X 4 stud member and each containsuitable barbs for maintaining the spindle mounting assembly in a givenposition when hooked over a stud member.

In the usual embodiment the spindle mounting assembly is shaped to holdthe rotatable table in a horizontal plane with the spaced apart U-shapedmembers located about a vertical stud member.

A cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of therotatable table is pivotly mounted at one end on the spindle mountingassembly and below the rotatable table. The other end of the cable guideassembly is formed into an open polygon for accepting and guiding thedispensing cable. In this manner the electrician has only to slip thecable'through the open polygon and regardless of his location in theroom rela tive to the supporting stud member the cable will be dispensedthrough the polygon opening located on the cable dispensing assembly. Inother words regardless of where the electrician is located the polygonend of the cable guide assembly will always be facing the electricianand the wire will be dispensed without kinks or bends.

In order to prevent spilling of wire which may result from afree-wheeling reel or from over-pulling on the wire by the electricianthere is located a frictional member in the form of a compression springbetween the spindle mounting assembly and the rotatable table and thecable guide assembly. The compression spring continuously urges themembers against each other thereby restraining the rotation of the tableunless the wire is actively being pulled by the electrician. In additionthe rotatable table contains a lip on the periphery for preventingexcess wire from being spilled off the table as a result of theelectrician suddenly pulling on the free end of the cable.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be mademore apparent by referring now to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view which illustrates the present day technique fordispensing coiled wire from the corrugated shipping container;

FIG. 2 is a view which illustrates a coiled cable dispenser constructedaccording to the teachings of the present invention mounted upon aconventional 2 X 4 stud member;

FIG. 4 is a view which illustrates a side view of the coiled cabledispenser mounted upon a vertical stud member; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the coiled cable dispenser illustrating how alip member on the table prevents spillage of the dispensing wire.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a corrugated carton 10 of thetype used to ship a coiled roll of 250 feet of wire. The container 10 isusually brought to the building site and the top section cut open asshown and the available end 12 of the wire is pulled out as needed. Dueto the coiled action of the wire pulling on the end 12 produces kinksand bends as illustrated due to the unwinding of the wire. These kinksand folds can be prevented by carefully unwinding the wire which ofnecessity requires that a helper be located at the site of the wire inorder to assist the electrician as the wire is pulled from the box. Itis considered most desirable to leave the coiled wire in the corrugatedcarton in order to prevent spilling of the wire when less than thecomplete roll is used for any given installation. In addition the cartonprovides a convenient means of moving the coiled wire from location tolocation during the construction process.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown a coiled cable dispenserconstructed according to the teachings of the present invention. Arotatable table 14 is pivotly mounted on and supported by one end of aspindle mounting assembly 16 which is connected at the other I end to anarm 18.

A pair of spaced apart U shaped members 20 and 22 are each fixedlyattached to each other by means of the arm 18. The spaced apart U-shapedmembers 20 and 22 are each adapted to fit over opposite sides of atleast one-half of a stud member 24. In the usual building construction,2 inch X 4 inch stud members are used 16 inches on center to form thebasic building wall structure. The coupling forces generated by theU-shaped members 20 and 22 as a result of the total weight of thestructure transmitted to the arm 18 allows the coiled cable dispenser tobe arbitrarily located at any height above the floor level as determinedby the needs of the user. The arm 18 is preferably connected to the U-shaped members 20 and 22 at the end portions of the brackets so that thearm is aligned with the stud member 24 and preferably along the centerof the widest face of the stud member.

A cable guide assembly 28 having a length greater than the diameter ofthe rotating table 14 is pivotably mounted at one end 26 to the spindlemounting assembly 16 and at the other end is formed into an open polygon30 for accepting the wire 38. The polygon 30 is open at point 31 inorder to allow the wire 38 being pulled from the coiled cable 32 to bequickly inserted within the polygon. The opening 31 is situated on thebottommost portion of the polygon 30 thereby insuring that the wire 38will remain within the polygon during normal use of the dispenser.

In using the present invention the corrugated carton as illustrated inFIG. 1 is completely opened thereby allowing the coiled cable 32 to beremoved and placed upon the rotatable table 14. The coiled wire 32 iscentrally located and supported upon the rotatable table 14 by means ofa pair of orthagonally located hub members 34 and 36 that are centrallylocated on the rotatable table 14. The hub members 34 and 36 have aheight that is greater than the width of the largest coil of 250 footlength wire 32 that would be used on the rotatable table 14. In thisfashion the hub members 34 and36 not only locate the coiled wire 32 onthe rotatable table 14 but also maintains the coil on the table againstthe action of the electrician pulling upon the wire 38 as a demand forwire is made.

In actual practice the coiled cable dispenser is located on a studmember 24 that is in close proximity to the location of the wiring needsof the electrician. As the electrician pulls on end 38 for a length ofwire the cable guide assembly 28 pivots about 26 thereby aligning thepolygon opening'30 with the location of the electrician. In this fashiona tug on end 38 will cause the rotatable table 14 to rotate while thehub members 34 and 36 maintain the coiled wire 32 on the table. In thisfashion the electrician may select any given length of wire and at anylocation in the room area without fear of kinking or folding of the wirebeing dispensed.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a side view of the coiled cabledispenser without the coiled wire 32 in place in order to illustrate afriction member in the form of a compression spring 39 that is locatedon the spindle mounting assembly 16. The compression spring 39 forcesthe rotatable table 14 and the cable guide assembly 28 against thespindle mounting assembly 16 thereby impeding the rotation of the tableand the guide assembly so as to insure against spilling of the wire inthe event a quick or sudden pull is made upon the free end of the wire.

FIG. 4 shows a section of the spaced apart U-shaped members and 22 formore fully illustrating barb members 40 and 42 located on the U shapedmembers, respectively. The barb members areshaped to dig into the shortside of the stud member 24 thereby insuring that the coiled cabledispenser will maintain the position that it is set at by the user untilmoved. Pulling on the polygon end of the cable guide assembly 28 willimmediately release the barb members 40 and 42 from the stud member 24thereby allowing the operator to relocate or remove the cable dispenserfrom the stud member.

Referring now to FIG. 3 there is shown a top view of the coiled cabledispenser which more fully illustrates how the lip portion 44 restrainsthe loose end of the wire 38 in the event of a sudden pull on the end ofthe cable which may cause a slight free wheeling rotation of therotatable table 14. As illustrated in FIG. 3 rotation of the table 14will cause a billowing of the wire from the coil and against the lipportion 44. This excess cable is therefore maintained on the table 14and simply provides additional slack for the user when he again pullsupon the wire 38. The compression spring 39 illustrated in FIG. 4 willkeep the tendency of the table 14 from free wheeling to an absoluteminimum and in combination with the lip 44 on the table 14 any tendencyfor the wire to spill from the table will be minimized.

Many modifications of the present invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art since variations in the shape of the spindle mountingassembly 16 to accommodate special situations will be apparent to theuser. It is envisioned that for general purpose applications that thespindle mounting assembly 16 can be made adjustable to accommodate thosesituations where the stud members 24 are at some angle such as in anattic and it is still desired that the rotatable table be maintained ina horizontal plane.

I claim:

1. A coiled cable dispenser comprising,

a pair of spaced apart U-shaped members, a single arm and a rotatabletable,

said pair of spaced apart U-shaped members fixedly attached to eachother by said single arm and each adapted to fit over opposite sides ofat least onehalf of a building stud member,

a spindle mounting assembly fixedly attached at one end to said singlearm and at the other end adapted to pivotally support said rotatabletable,

said spindle mounting assembly thaving a specific shape for holding saidrotatable table in a preferred position,

a cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of saidrotatable table is pivotably mounted at one end on said spindle mountingassembly below said rotatable table,

said cable guide assembly being freely pivotable in all directions fordispensing cable below and above said rotatable table, and

a hub assembly centrally located on said rotatable table for holding andcontrolling the positioning of a coiled spool of cable on said table.

2. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 1 which includes afriction member centrally located on said spindle mounting assembly forfrictionally engaging said cable guide assembly and said rotatable tableto thereby impede rotational movement.

3. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 2 in which said frictionmember is a compression spring for forcing said rotatable table and saidcable guide assembly against said spindle mounting assembly.

4. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 1 in which said rotatabletable is circular having a curved lip portion on the periphery forrestraining the dispensing cable.

1. A coiled cable dispenser comprising, a pair of spaced apart U-shapedmembers, a single arm and a rotatable table, said pair of spaced apartU-shaped members fixedly attached to each other by said single arm andeach adapted to fit over opposite sides of at least one-half of abuilding stud member, a spindle mounting assembly fixedly attached atone end to said single arm and at the other end adapted to pivotallysupport said rotatable table, said spindle mounting assembly having aspecific shape for holding said rotatable table in a preferred position,a cable guide assembly having a length greater than the diameter of saidrotatable table is pivotably mounted at one end on said spindle mountingassembly below said rotatable table, said cable guide assembly beingfreely pivotable in all directions for dispensing cable below and abovesaid rotatable table, and a hub assembly centrally located on saidrotatable table for holding and controlling the positioning of a coiledspool of cable on said table.
 2. A coiled cable dispenser according toclaim 1 which includes a friction member centrally located on saidspindle mounting assembly for frictionally engaging said cable guideassembly and said rotatable table to thereby impede rotational movement.3. A coiled cable dispenser according to claim 2 in which said frictionmember is a compression spring for forcing said rotatable table and saidcable guide assembly against said spindle mounting assembly.
 4. A coiledcable dispenser according to claim 1 in which said rotatable table iscircular having a curved lip portion on the periphery for restrainingthe dispensing cable.